The Occasional Visitors

Have I told you about the black bird?

It happened a couple of times. I would wake up to the sound of rustling leaves in the garden, actually one of the things I love about the new house is that my room overlooks a “batch” of garden with a vine and a seasonal tree. So, I would hear the sound of the falling tree leaves, all golden and crunchy on the ground, and I’d get up to see what’s out there. I’ve always been fascinated with the animal world so something inside me would be hoping that it would be some strange animal, more than just an average cat or a pigeon. It’s good to have expectations, as long as they are not from people, and those expectations I had those mornings weren’t always met with disappointment. As I rose from bed I saw a black bird jumping swiftly between the leaves, but as soon as I appeared in the window frame it would fly away, I only got a glimpse of it.

For some reason I like to think it was more than just a bird.

The other day I heard a more violent rustling sound outside, it was in the late afternoon. When I looked out of the window I immediately called out to my mother: Come and take a look at this strange bird out there! It was some sort of a fowl but we couldn’t really work out what kind it was. I remember seeing something like it in the zoo. It kept walking back and forth in the garden until it finally ran out into the street.

Yesterday I heard an even more violent sound outside.

Nah, it was just a cat that’s been sleeping on our porch and hanging around during the day. It had climbed the tree and was ready to jump, which she did with quite the skill. Not a total waste of time,  that was a nice sight.

God, please send me a stray deer.